Will sailing from France get more difficult in 2007

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Sailfree

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Just returned from Skiing and was surprised that UK immigrations? customs in Calais required us to open boot. They were obviously checking for illegal immigrants.

No problem in them checking but its the first time ever in 25 yrs its happened. I often wondered why there were not more thorough checks on pleasure boats especially as Cherbourg Marina is so open. So far we have sailed to France over a 8 yr period and never been stopped/checked but is this about to change as well?
 
What has surprised me over the last couple of years, leaving Portsmouth by ferry, is the amount of checks that are carried out as you LEAVE the country. On return just a count of heads = pasports, "OK Sir" and off you go.

I know Blair is unpopular, but to me it seems more like they are trying to keep peopel in!
 
did you have swmbo with you? With swmbo i never get stopped, and otherwise i er always get stopped.

oh...one thing they are recently hot on is counterfeit goods such as fake louis vuitton etc ...
 
Dunno but last year tried to get on Ferry to visit our boat that we'd left in Brest.

Turned out my passport had expired some months back and not noticed by anybody on previous trip!

Let us on ferry but said we might not be let into France. No checks at all in France, so drove to boat, nice weekend, etc.

On way back, advised passport out of date. "We know" says us and they let us on our way. Arrived Plymouth, handed passports to Immigration, who saw two persons in car and two passports. Handed them back, didn't even look at them.

Did wonder about ID cards/loss of freedoms/huge costs/etc if this is what goes on at the sharp end.

But if our effective 'Border' is up somewhere like a Turkish mountain, maybe this local stuff is well after the nag has come last in the 2.30 at Newmarket?
 
Last December, 4 of us went to France for the weekend, there was a mix up with the tickets. The girl in the kiosk altered (I suppose) our windscreen hanger from 2 to 4 occupants with a big felt tip pen, as we approached the customs/passport control, a customs officer came rushing out, a bit panicky and directed us to another 'area', where we were told to stay in the car as they put a barrier fence around us! By now we had another two (I believe armed) 'security type' watching over us as they inspected the window hanger, looked in the boot and under the car etc. All was OK after an official from the ferry was called and exchanges over the radio took place.

Coming back we just got waved through.
 
Returning to Heathrow one night, last flight, I realised that I'd left my passport in Belgium (they'd let me through the barrier saying the problem would at the UK end).

Anyway, I explained all this to the Heathrow immigration guy who asked if I had any other form of identification. I proferred my driving licence but this was no good; <ul type="square"> "I'm afraid we can only accept you if you have a Northern Ireland licence. Do you have anything with a photograph on it?" [/list] No problem, I passed him a card with my name, photo and signature on it. Still no good. <ul type="square"> "I'm terribly sorry sir, but for some reason Her Majesty's Government doesn't view membership of Ronnie Scott's jazz club as providing entry qualification for the UK". [/list] I thought I detected a slight note of sarcasm there. I then offered him a pass card for a company HQ in central London. He waved me through, saying, "That's fine sir, have a pleasant evening".

It was only later that it occurred to me that because it was a high security building, the name of the company didn't even appear on the pass card - just a few lines and squiggles. For all he knew it could have been my membership card for some nefarious organisation. Perhaps I have an honest face.

It was very decent of him to use his discretion. I wouldn't have let me through.
 
Hello One and All,

Just for the record:

Immigration officers are trained to be able to recognise those people with a high probability of being illegal entrants. If you fitted those criteria you would find it an entirely different experience at the UK border.
The UK cannot refuse re-entry of one of its citizens even if they do not have their passport with them. Again, here IO's use their common sense and training and access to official records to confirm identity.
Opening car boots is most usually conducted by HMRI, they are looking for contraband. If they find people in the boot then it is immediately referred to Immigration/police. this happens far more often than you would imagine.
Immigration officers know when a document, including a UK passport, is a forgery. Its not always necessary to open the document.
Imigration officers work under a lot of pressure. If it wasn't for them life in the UK would be entirely different.
How the government address these problems is a matter of public record - no comment here.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Hello One and All,

Just for the record:

Opening car boots is most usually conducted by HMRI, they are looking for contraband. If they find people in the boot then it is immediately referred to Immigration/police.

[/ QUOTE ]

On this occassion they were looking in boots and seeing they were full and hence no extra people possible they were Ok certainly not looking for contraband!
 
about 18 months ago decided to go to Lymington and drive the car back over to Greece....
Never got checked, questioned, looked at or even had passports checked all the way from the UK right through to Greece... not one check of any sort anywhere!

AND... the car was so full of stuff, packed high to the roof, that nobody could have sat in the back seats etc!

I don't think I have that honest a face! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
"Immigration officers are trained to be able to recognise those people .."
you know, i often wondered why at St Vaast recently my boat got turned over. I'd gone off to get lunch and left it in charge of the crew; both of whom i'd thought were fine upstanding citizens. Well, just shows how their recognition skills aren't infallible .. doesn't it?! Although, one didn't have a passport so s'pose he might have been looking a touch guilty ...
 
Flew back from Venice a couple of weeks ago and everybody had to present their passports at immigration desks. Each passport was scrutinized in detail and the information appeared to be cross checked against computer records. The guy checking mine certainly noticed that I didn't wear glasses or a beard at the time my piccie was taken. I assumed that Dr. Reid is insisting on a higher visibilty for immigration dept staff.
 
Have been checked mid-channel 5 times over the last 4 years. That's out of probably 20 odd crossings. Been actually boarded 3 times for a good 'rummage'. Once the Customs chaps have decided you are OK they are very friendly. One yacht 3 years ago on the final leg of the Triangle got stroppy with the C&E peeeps, they said fine but when he moored up in Torquay their colleagues were waiting and made him empty every locker, nook and crany. He won't do that again! Always been stopped at night.
 
You truncated my statement somewhat. IO's are not perfect - but they are by and large very good at their job and they work very hard to ensure the security of our borders.
 
You would be surprised at how easy it is to get illegal immigrants into the back of cars apparantly full of gear. If HMRI or Immigration were just opening boots and letting them go ahead it was becasue they did not see anything that fir the profile. Those stopped were probably targets.
 
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